Structures creatable by tensile-integrity structures were first contemplated by R. B. Fuller in the 1950s and 1960s (see for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,063,521). Fuller teaches “tensegrity” structures additional together into an overarching generally spherical or domic array. Tension is maintained throughout his structure by use of “tension elements” including, for example, “wires or cables”.
Likewise, means of devising three-dimensional representations of polygons is known in the art, such as is taught by Chen (U.S. Pat. No. 6,672,789), however, these structures are typically employed for demonstration only, and lack any sufficiency for load bearing. In the case of the device taught by Chen, as with others, interconnection of supporting rods is enabled by endwise mating into a spherical connector which orients the rods into pyramidal and other polygonal arrangements.
Applicant's invention, however, enables erection of a tension compression, tension integrity (“tensegrity”) structural unit wherein each of at least three elongate members is disposed in interlapping array to apply tension forces against each other and maintain integrity. No additional tensioning elements (such as wires or cables) are required; the elongate members are flexible and elastic enough to tension against each other, and thus define curved boundaries delimiting a central aperture between their interlapped ends.
This central aperture defines an “attractor polygon”, that is a polygon dependent on the number of elongate members comprising the particular structural unit comprehended by application of the method set forth herein. Thus three elongate members create a triangular attractor polygon; four, a square attractor polygon; five, a pentagonal attractor polygon; and so on. Interconnection of such structural units thus creates a mode of attractor polygons by which domic and large, load bearing structures are creatable by interlapping configuration of a plurality of elongate members. No additional tensioning elements are necessarily required. The attractor polygons may be regular, comprising equal length sides and equal angles, or irregular, comprising unequal length sides and/or unequal angles.
The invention set forth herein thus renders a useful improvement over the teaching of R. B. Fuller, enabling erection of large spanning structures with a repeating single element. Moreover, variances in this repeating element—such as length of the elongate member, position of each of a first and a second seat endwise disposed upon said elongate member, or position of each of a corresponding first and second interconnection member upon said elongate member, for example, enable various iterations and combinations of structural units, whereby attractor polygons formed at one vertex of the structure transition into a secondary attractor polygon which secondary attractor polygon may likewise transition back to an attractor polygon or into a tertiary attractor polygon, whereby regular and irregular polyhedrons are creatable in almost innumerable compositions adaptable for structural assembly according to the dictates of the inventive step contemplated herein.